President's Night

Last Thursday, about 100 selected Frankfurt School Alumni came together for the President's Night in the Commerzbank Tower. Professor Dr Nils Stieglitz, President and CEO of Frankfurt School, had invited them to this exclusive networking event, hosted this year by Christian J. Hassel, Divisional Board Member for Sales at Commerzbank.

Christian J. Hassel, who completed his Executive MBA at Frankfurt School in 2012, opened the evening. He emphasised the long-standing, successful partnership between Commerzbank and Frankfurt School. He was therefore all the more pleased to host this year's President's Night and to further promote the exchange. He also encouraged donations to the Klaus Peter Müller Scholarship Fund. The Honorary Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Commerzbank and the Board of Trustees of the Frankfurt School Foundation set up a generous scholarship fund from private funds. It is aimed at Master's and MBA students with outstanding achievements and social commitment who need support in financing their studies.

Professor Dr Nils Stieglitz gave an insight into current developments at Frankfurt School. He reported on the expansion of the campus to include the Bertramshof in order to accommodate growth. The Bertramshof offers space for new learning centres, rooms for student initiatives as well as offices. Frankfurt School's start-up ecosystem Futury will make it a central location for the local start-up community. Professor Stieglitz also addressed other highlights of 2024 - in particular, the awarding of an honorary doctorate to US Treasury Secretary Dr Janet Yellen and the symposium in honour of Klaus-Peter Müller. He also remembered Professor Dr Philipp Sandner, who passed away far too early in January. He was the founder and head of the Frankfurt School Blockchain Centre.

In his keynote speech, Heiner Herkenhoff, Managing Director of the Association of German Banks, spoke about current challenges and opportunities for Germany's economy and the banking industry. He emphasised that the country must use its potential and take responsibility to ensure growth and security. Germany's capacity to act and its competitiveness were particularly important. If, for example, productivity gains were clearly prioritised in public and private investments, Germany could realise its capacity to act and its competitiveness under its own steam. Facing the results of the US election, Heiner Herkenhoff observed that, in the US, the announcement of de-regulation alone was generating a great deal of economic momentum. However, this topic was not yet really on the agenda in Germany.

All speakers agreed: Especially in uncertain times, everyone has to commit himself or herself. A special thanks therefore went to the alumni who are involved as speakers, mentors or donors and thus foster the spirit and the community of the business school.

Frankfurt School would like to thank Commerzbank and especially Christian J. Hassel for their hospitality.